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Weekend Update, 2015 Next-to-Last Edition
Dec. 19th, 2015 04:45 pmWait, there's less than two weeks to go in the year? How did that happen?
Well, I'm not actually complaining that 2015 flew by too fast this time out...this past year has been quite creative and productive for me, so no real complaints here. A few unexpected changes in project deadlines, some frustration here and there, but I'd like to think I finally made a tremendous amount of progress.
I've made a lot of serious decisions with regards to my writing career this year. At the top of that list is my decision to self-publish the Mendaihu Universe novels, as well as the decision to do so with my other projects down the line. This decision didn't come lightly. I didn't do it because of all the rejection letters (or more to the point, the lack of any response), although part of my decision did in fact include my frustration in the seemingly infinite wait time between querying and production. I didn't do it because 'they don't believe in my brilliance'. I'm not that stupid. No, the reason I did it was because I wanted to see if it was for me, simple as that.
It was only after I gave myself that September 3rd deadline and learned the entire process from top to bottom that I realized that I actually loved doing it. I loved creating the cover, figuring out how to correctly format everything, forcibly distancing myself from the story for editing purposes, and even being creative with the release processes, including editing the galley copy for the physical version. I made sure I knew what I was doing and what I wanted to do. This was a creative and financial endeavor that was 100% my own.
Put it this way: my aim wasn't to be on the bestseller's list. It was to be out there in the world. And I achieved that. Twice, actually! There was the release of A Division of Souls but also the Uniquely North Quabbin collection (I have a short entry in there which also contains a few of my pictures). And I plan on doing it three more times in 2016: the second and third book in the trilogy, and Walk in Silence.
So what's in store for 2016? Well, I'll hit upon that in the next week or so for my final post of the year. I'll also be posting some of the year's pictures on my Tumblr, a retrospective of my writing at Welcome to Bridgetown, and my end of year music lists at the WiS blog.
But yeah...2015? I think overall it was a Very Good Year indeed.
Well, I'm not actually complaining that 2015 flew by too fast this time out...this past year has been quite creative and productive for me, so no real complaints here. A few unexpected changes in project deadlines, some frustration here and there, but I'd like to think I finally made a tremendous amount of progress.
I've made a lot of serious decisions with regards to my writing career this year. At the top of that list is my decision to self-publish the Mendaihu Universe novels, as well as the decision to do so with my other projects down the line. This decision didn't come lightly. I didn't do it because of all the rejection letters (or more to the point, the lack of any response), although part of my decision did in fact include my frustration in the seemingly infinite wait time between querying and production. I didn't do it because 'they don't believe in my brilliance'. I'm not that stupid. No, the reason I did it was because I wanted to see if it was for me, simple as that.
It was only after I gave myself that September 3rd deadline and learned the entire process from top to bottom that I realized that I actually loved doing it. I loved creating the cover, figuring out how to correctly format everything, forcibly distancing myself from the story for editing purposes, and even being creative with the release processes, including editing the galley copy for the physical version. I made sure I knew what I was doing and what I wanted to do. This was a creative and financial endeavor that was 100% my own.
Put it this way: my aim wasn't to be on the bestseller's list. It was to be out there in the world. And I achieved that. Twice, actually! There was the release of A Division of Souls but also the Uniquely North Quabbin collection (I have a short entry in there which also contains a few of my pictures). And I plan on doing it three more times in 2016: the second and third book in the trilogy, and Walk in Silence.
So what's in store for 2016? Well, I'll hit upon that in the next week or so for my final post of the year. I'll also be posting some of the year's pictures on my Tumblr, a retrospective of my writing at Welcome to Bridgetown, and my end of year music lists at the WiS blog.
But yeah...2015? I think overall it was a Very Good Year indeed.
